Tag Archive for: Environmental Democracy

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International Day of Peasant Struggle

On April 17, the International Day of Peasant Struggle was celebrated, commemorating the murder of 19 peasants who demanded their access to land and justice in 1966 in El Dorado dos Carajá, Brazil. Crime that still goes unpunished.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

Access to land continues to be one of the main conflicts facing the peasantry today. The dispute is based on the struggle for access, control and reconfiguration of the territory that includes soil, water, air, biodiversity, communities, etc. In our region, the main reason that has triggered it is the advance of agribusiness, characterized by being in the hands of a small number of national and transnational companies that are articulated through the sale and appropriation of land, transgenic seeds, pesticides, machinery , until its effective commercialization (in the hands of monopolies).

The dominant production model in our country, based on the “green revolution”, is based on a destructive, decontextualized way of producing and not linked to the pre-existing communities, nature and customs of the region where it takes place. Proof of this are the innumerable environmental and social liabilities that it generates through the excessive use of agrochemicals, the indiscriminate felling of trees, the contamination of surface waters and water sources, the immoderate use of fossil fuels, the increasing emission of greenhouse gases. , the impoverishment of soils, the extermination of biodiversity and the consequent production of food lacking in nutrients.

As a result of the serious consequences that it produces both in health and in the environment, over the years, different resistances to this form of production have been developed. An example of this is Ramona Orellano de Bustamante, a symbol of struggle for peasants and peasants, who for more than 15 years has resisted in the north of the province of Cordoba in defense of its territory, facing economic power, agribusiness, and power. judicial system, and the system that has systematically violated it.

Agroecology is thus presented as an alternative to agribusiness, developed by the peasantry, peasant families and indigenous peoples. This other way of producing is not considered only as a method of cultivating healthy food of nutritional quality, but also as a movement with social, cultural and political goals whose principle is respect for Mother Earth. It also revalues ​​the peasant status, helps to build independence from unfavorable markets, favoring local, sustainable and resilient development in the face of climate change.

Despite all the benefits that agroecology presents, and the need to promote family, peasant and indigenous agriculture, and if it is regulated both at the national and provincial level (National Law of Family, Peasant and Indigenous Agriculture and Law of Good Agricultural Practices de Córdoba), there are currently no real public policies that value and promote it. For these reasons, a true political will is necessary to address the urgency of an agrarian reform, which leads us towards a more sustainable agriculture, which produces quality food and with well-paid farmers recognized for their service to society. Undoubtedly, it is a pending debt and there is still a long way to go, so it is important that the fight is vindicated and made visible on April 17.

Authors

  • Ananda Lavayen
  • Maria Laura Carrizo

Contact

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Citizen participation in check

This Friday, April 9, at 12 noon, the public hearing will begin on the Punilla highway. It will be done through a digital platform and will be broadcast live on YouTube.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”

Within the framework of the project “ALTERNATIVE ROUTE N ° 38 – VARIANT SECTION COSTA AZUL – LA CUMBRE” -punilla highway-, the environment secretary of the Province convened the corresponding public hearing. This stage is mandatory and prior to obtaining the environmental license.

Beyond the technical-environmental objections that the project deserves regarding its environmental impact, whose evaluation may imply the denial (or not) of the environmental license, the procedure selected by the provincial authority to the holding of the public hearing.

Is that the call itself established that to proceed with the registration, it was necessary to have “LEVEL 2” of Digital Citizen -CIDI- or, where appropriate, obtain it. Then, once this procedure was completed, it was possible to register through the “participation” service of said portal. Each and every one of these previous steps required having access to the internet, a device with a camera and even knowledge of technologies.

To participate in the public hearing – which is scheduled to begin today – you must have a device that allows you to access the corresponding “Google Meet” session. This adds other variables that make access to the procedure difficult, since the person interested in participating must not only have a good internet connection -due to the number of people present in the same session- but also with computer knowledge and a device appropriate technology. In addition, given the possible attendance of many people, the administration must adopt a good room management mechanism, trusting that the platform does not collapse due to the number of online participants.

All these requirements for the exercise of the right to public participation, in addition to finding their justification in the pandemic context, are based on the regulatory framework created by Provincial Law No. 10,618 and its Regulatory Decree No. 750/19 for the modernization of the administration. This regulation is what makes possible, based on Art. 8, the possibility of digital audiences.

The requirements designed by the provincial administration for the enjoyment of the right to citizen participation in environmental matters, generates certain questions regarding the validity of the procedure and the consequent administrative act. Participation must be open, inclusive, guaranteeing favorable conditions so that it can be adapted to the characteristics of the population, taking into special consideration those sectors that for one reason or another are in a situation of vulnerability. The way in which the digital public hearing has been implemented seems to move away from these guidelines, generating restrictions that have a direct impact on the enjoyment of the right of access to public participation in environmental matters, particularly of those people who do not have devices, knowledge and necessary infrastructure.

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Protection for delay in access to environmental information

On December 1, we filed an amparo action for delay of the Secretary of Environment of the Province of Córdoba in providing environmental public information. Through this action we ask the courts to require the Province to fulfill its duty to provide the requested information.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

During the months of October and November, we asked the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change of the Province for public information related to the policies and actions implemented by the Provincial State regarding prevention, mitigation and adaptation measures to the phenomenon. In the absence of a response within the term provided by current provincial regulations, we again request the prompt dispatch of the administration.

In the absence of a specific response, and when the deadlines have expired, we filed an action for protection for default. This consists in informing the Provincial Courts of the delay in complying with the deadlines ordered by law to answer the request, so that later the judicial body requires the authority in question to fulfill its duty.

It should be remembered that the right of access to information is guaranteed in the Argentine regulatory system and is recognized in Principle 10 of the Declaration of Rio de Janeiro of 1994, the Escazú Agreement ratified by National Law No. 27,566, in art . 41 of the National Constitution, as well as Laws 25,831 on Access to Public Environmental Information and 25,675 General on the Environment. This right is a fundamental presupposition proper to democratic coexistence and is necessary for proper environmental management.

In fulfilling their obligations, the authorities must provide such information, without it being necessary to prove interest or any reason, free of charge and within the prescribed deadlines. In the event of non-compliance, the action for protection by default is outlined as the way to guarantee the enjoyment of such a fundamental right.

Contact

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

Argentina ratified the Escazú Agreement

In a special session held yesterday, the Chamber of Deputies approved the bill to ratify the Escazú Agreement. With this act, only the ratification of a Latin American and Caribbean State would remain for its subsequent entry into force.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

During the month of August, the Chamber of Senators had already approved the bill to ratify the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean ( Escazú Agreement). Yesterday, following the procedure established by our Constitution, the Chamber of Deputies gave the remaining half sanction necessary for the effective ratification of the Agreement.

Thus, Argentina became the tenth country to carry out this act. This is important because we remember that the text of the Agreement itself provides, in its art. 22, the entry into force after the 90th day from the deposit of the eleventh instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the Secretary General of the United Nations (depositary of the agreement). This means that only one more State ratification would remain before the 90-day period prior to the effective entry into force begins.

Let us remember that this treaty is not only innovative in its content because it was consolidated from an arduous process of debate and citizen participation, but because it constitutes the first international normative instrument that guarantees and establishes a protection system for those who are defenders of the human rights in environmental matters. It should be noted that the Latin American and Caribbean region registers the highest number of murders of those who carry out this task.

Likewise, the text regulates the rights of access to information, citizen participation and environmental justice. Although in the Republic there are norms that guarantee the respect of these rights, the truth is that the approval of the treaty affects its effective fulfillment and enjoyment, since it places the State in the obligation to comply with its international commitments under penalty in responsibility for its breach.

Contact

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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Report on Climate Change and the Rights of Women, Indigenous Peoples and Rural Communities in the Americas

Together with other civil society organizations in Latin America, we prepare a report addressing the problem of Climate Change, its effects and impacts on human rights from the regional context. This was then presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights during the 173rd session.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The report, prepared collaboratively with 16 Latin American civil society organizations, analyzes the existing problems surrounding the effects of climate change. In particular, the impact that the phenomenon has on the human rights of millions of people worldwide is examined. Its consequences cross and violate the right to life, health, water, and a healthy environment, in turn affecting many others due to the interdependence between all of them.

Likewise, the differentiated impact to which certain groups and communities in vulnerable situations are subject, such as those who belong to Indigenous and tribal peoples, children and adolescents, women and members of rural communities. Those who make up these groups, due to their particular circumstances, suffer more intensely from the harmful effects of climate change, consequently, their situation of vulnerability worsens.

In this document, we also examine the scope of measures necessary to prevent and deal with such consequences. For this, it is essential that the States implement mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as measures that provide for the repair of losses and damages caused. In this context, the report analyzes the obligations and responsibilities that both state and non-state actors have, in order to achieve complete respect for human rights. Finally, the document contains some recommendations based on the international human rights system.

The role that each actor occupies around the problem calls for a differentiated action. The States, Companies, Financial Institutions, and International Organizations must implement actions and measures that respect human rights in a context of climate emergency.

Download Report (Spanish version Only)

Contact
Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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An overview of national environmental projects.

Coordinated by the Circle of Environmental Policy (C.A.B.A.), and in conjunction with other specialists, We elaborate the Legislative Environmental Agenda 2020, giving account and analyzing the main bills on environmental matters that have parliamentary status.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The 2020 Legislative Environmental Agenda is an initiative led by the Policy Circle Environmental, which is emerging as a fundamental input to publicize those projects of law that are in force and in the process of being treated in both houses of Congress of the Nation. With the participation of various actors and specialists, the content, scope and importance of those projects in parliamentary status, linked to environmental issues, energy and public health.

The main objective of the report, according to María Eugenia Testa (director of the Circulo de P. Environmental) focuses on the visibility of those projects presented by different legislators, as well as in promoting parliamentary debate on issues environmental. Our contribution consisted of specifically examining those related projects to the ratification of the so-called “Escazú Agreement”; noting the importance that its incorporation into the local regulatory system, particularly due to the circumstance of taking a step in assuming international commitments in this area. These would allow to incorporate monitoring and enforcement tools regarding compliance with those measures to effective access to environmental justice, citizen participation and access to information environmental.

We appreciate the invitation, highlighting the importance of implementing initiatives collaboratives like the Legislative Environmental Agenda. We believe that the incorporation of different perspectives in the analysis process, enriches the debate and promotes alternatives for development of public policies in environmental matters. Likewise, we believe that such contribution to society allows to make visible the existing projects in the congress, examine their content, participate in public debate, monitor the legislative process, among other virtues that they strengthen the foundations of a transparent and participatory democratic system.

Access the full report

2020 CPA Legislative Environmental Agenda

Contact

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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An overview of national environmental projects

Coordinated by the Circle of Environmental Policy (C.A.B.A.), and in conjunction with other specialists, We elaborate the Legislative Environmental Agenda 2020, giving account and analyzing the main bills on environmental matters that have parliamentary status.

Descargar Documento / Download File
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The path of Civil Society towards the Escazú Agreement

Together with other organizations of the Civil Society of Latin America and the Caribbean, we prepare a working document that reflects the contributions and lessons learned in the negotiation process of the Escazú Agreement.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

This document was carried out in the framework of the work of the Regional Observatory of Investments, Transparency and Human Rights (composed of various civil society organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean, many of them authors of this publication), as part of a collective effort for making known from our experience the contributions and lessons learned from the negotiation process of Principle 10 so that they can be incorporated into the current signature and ratification processes of the Escazú Agreement.

Thus, what is described in this document responds to the achievement of a regional aspiration: the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, now the Agreement on Escazú, the first regional instrument of environmental rights, which represents a historic opportunity for the materialization of environmental democracy and the consolidation of citizenship, especially those groups that have been historically and systematically discriminated, such as indigenous peoples.

The publication summarizes the internal processes in various Latin American countries aimed at the approval of the Agreement, in particular, from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru.

More information

Contact

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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We participate in a hearing on climate change before the IACHR

Together with other non-governmental organizations, we participate in a thematic hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. At this hearing we present a report on the impact of climate change on the enjoyment and enjoyment of human rights.

Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic.

In the framework of the 173 session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held in Washington DC, we participated in the hearing on climate change and the rights of women, children, indigenous and rural communities. Together with other Latin American non-governmental organizations – advocated for the protection of human rights and the environment – we present a report on climate change and its impact on human rights.

The report was prepared collaboratively together with Fundación Pachamama, Dejusticia, AIDA, IDL, Engajamundo, Earthrights International, Honduran Alliance on Climate Change, FIMA, CELS, DPLF, Conectas, FARN, CEMDA and the Climate Route. It was presented to the IACHR, it mainly addresses the differentiated impact caused by climate change on the populations and communities of Latin America. The following topics were addressed in this:

  1. Impacts of Climate Change on Rights
  2. Response Measures to Address Climate Change and its Implications with Human Rights
  3. Differentiated Impacts of Climate Change on the Rights of Vulnerable Groups
  4. Obligations of States and Responsibilities of Non-State Actors in the Context of Climate Change and Human Rights

It is important to point out that the tool for participation in thematic hearings of the IACHR allows the immediacy on the part of the regional body in those problems that afflict local communities, while providing tools to then urge the member states of the Organization of American States, to the fulfillment of respectful Human Rights policies.

Regarding the pressing problem of climate change, it is important that the IACHR recognizes the impacts that this phenomenon causes throughout Latin America, and accordingly demands that States deepen their prevention, regulation, mitigation and adaptation policies in pursuit of guarantee human and social development in healthy and balanced environmental conditions.

Authors

Valentina Castillo Barnetche

Aranza Ruiz

Contact

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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PreCOP Córdoba “Civil Society Collaboration”

On August 7, a parallel event was held within the framework of the Pre-COP Córdoba 2019, where we participated in the organization jointly with Fundación Tierravida, Córdoba Young Agency Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. The Side Event convened various sectors of civil society, NGOs, universities, native peoples, entrepreneurs and activists, involved in the theme of climate change.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

Given the cross-cutting nature of environmental management, which is why environmental problems must be considered and assumed comprehensively and cross-sectorally, a logic of horizontal, multisectoral and interdisciplinary participation was sustained throughout the day.

In the morning the event began with the dissertation of specialists in climate change and then in the afternoon, through various work tables, the participants discussed, discussed and contributed on an equal and transparent footing to write a Roadmap . The discussion, in addition to being linked to the PreCOP issues, was framed in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In addition to the aforementioned, various projects and actions of NGOs against climate change were presented under the Pecha Kucha format, topics such as renewable energy, differentiated waste collection, community empowerment on climate change were discussed.

About the Roadmap

The Road Map was the central and final objective of the event, in which representatives of the Cordoba civil society left the actions to be followed. Specifically, it focused on what elements are necessary to achieve governance that guarantees and promotes the effective participation of all sectors in decision-making and in the allocation of resources for projects, plans and programs related to climate change.

The aforementioned document was presented, in its preliminary version, before the official PreCOP authorities and at COP 25 to be carried out in December 2019 in Chile. During the month of September, work will continue among the participating organizations of the Side Event to continue developing their content.

The Climate Summit (COP) this year will be held in Chile and is a great opportunity to reach our representatives the various voices embodied in a document that show what are the necessary actions to deal with climate change. The summit is attended by representatives from almost every country in the world, scientists, specialists and NGOs where they intend to set criteria for compliance with the Paris Agreement and improve gas reduction goals.

Authors 

Carolina Tamagnini

Ananda Lavayén

María Laura Carrizo

Contact

Juan Bautista López, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org 

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When in doubt, nature

After a long judicial process, a group of residents of the town of Gualeguaychu (Entre Ríos) managed to get the Supreme Court of Justice to rule in favor of their claim in an important precedent that recognized and applied novel principles of environmental law.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

Such course of action began with an action for environmental protection filed by a group of Gualeguaychu residents against a real estate project located near the river of the same name, demanding the cessation of works and the environmental recomposition. In the first instance, the action was accepted, although afterwards the Superior Court of Justice Entre Ríos (hereinafter STJER) annulled the judgment. Before this last pronouncement, the amparistas presented an extraordinary federal appeal, which, although it was rejected by the STJER, was admitted by the Supreme Court of Justice (hereinafter “The Court”), revoking in its resolution that resolved by the high provincial court.

Although the highest court in Argentina only overturned the ruling of his interlocutor paring the proceedings to the court of origin, the considerations for arriving at such a decision reaffirmed certain existing rules and principles in environmental law (procedural and substantial), at the same time that crystallized novel legal principles in the matter. In effect, the Court once again stressed the integral systemic nature of the watersheds and the importance of the protection of the wetlands (affected in this case) as integral and interdependent parts of the water system, citing as a normative instrument the Ramsar Convention (Relative Convention to Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat).

Likewise, the Court assessed the application of the precautionary principle, and also introduced the novel application of the principles in dubio pro natura and in dubio pro aqua.

Regarding the principle in dubio pro natura, this establishes (in the words of the Court) that: “In case of doubt, all proceedings before courts, administrative bodies and other decision-makers must be resolved in such a way as to favor protection and conservation. of the environment, giving preference to less harmful alternatives. Actions will not be taken when their potential adverse effects are disproportionate or excessive in relation to the benefits derived from them.”

Regarding the principle in dubio pro aqua, he argued that: “In case of uncertainty, environmental and water disputes should be resolved in the courts, and application laws interpreted in the most favorable way to the protection and preservation of the resources of water and related ecosystems.”

In short, the Court revoked the decision of the STJER since it directly affected access to environmental justice (Article 32 of Law 25.675) and the principles in dubio pro natura and pro aqua, in the defined terms. Undoubtedly, the jurisprudential recognition of the highest judicial body means the incorporation of both guidelines to Argentine environmental law. They are welcome.

More information

Author

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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Escazú Agreement: An opportunity to guarantee the application of Principle 10 in LAC

“Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean” was approved in Escazú, Costa Rica, on March 4, 2018, officially opens to the signature of the 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. It requires that 11 countries sign and ratify it to enter into force.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

On the day of the date, the Escazú Agreement is opened for signature at the 73rd General Assembly of the United Nations, in New York. The agreement adopted by 24 countries of the region on March 4, will be open for signature by the 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) until September 26, 2020 and will need the ratification of 11 countries to enter into force.

The treaty seeks to guarantee the full and effective application of Principle 10, embodied in the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development of 1992, in Latin America and the Caribbean. For its part, Principle 10 seeks to ensure that everyone has access to information, participates in decision-making and accesses justice in environmental matters, in order to guarantee the right to a healthy and sustainable environment of present generations and future.

The importance of the Escazú Agreement is that it is the first of its kind in the world that includes specific binding provisions for the protection of individuals, groups and organizations that promote and defend human rights in environmental matters. Likewise, it is the only binding treaty issued by the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio + 20).

In particular, for Argentina, which is characterized by having the highest deforestation rates in the world, as well as the lack of access to environmental information and the lack of participatory public policies, the entry into force of this binding regional agreement will allow the strengthening of access rights in environmental matters.

In the same sense, it will allow preventing the environmental costs of the decisions that have to do with the economic development and to improve the management of the multiple socio-environmental conflicts existing in the territory.

For these reasons, we present a letter to the former Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and another to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, urging the signature and adhesion of the Argentine government to the Escazú Agreement.

Also, through a press release, UN human rights experts urge the States in Latin America and the Caribbean to sign and ratify, as soon as possible, a pioneering environmental treaty for the region.

The experts added that States should adopt, in their strategies to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, an approach that encompasses society as a whole. They also noted that an essential aspect of States’ international human rights obligations is to ensure the protection, respect and support of individuals who raise concerns about the negative impact on human rights, including in the context of the development of human rights. projects that involve companies

“By signing and promptly ratifying this innovative treaty, the Latin American and Caribbean States will reinforce their firm commitment to environmental protection and human rights, and above all, they will send an unequivocal message in favor of multilateralism, solidarity, equality and regional integration, while promoting collaboration with other regions, “they said.

We believe that the entry into force of the regional agreement will be a fundamental step towards achieving a true environmental democracy. Therefore, we urge Argentina and other countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to sign and ratify, as soon as possible, this historic treaty for the region.

 

More information

Contact

María Pérez Alsina – mariaperezalsina@fundeps.org

Agustina Palencia – agustinapalencia@fundeps.org